A NOT SO AMUSED MUSE

Dear Restaurant Owner,

I am a disgruntled and miffed customer. Last Friday I enjoyed a late lunch with a business colleague (also in the food biz). We ate at your new restaurant. The lunch itself was just okay but the desserts were amazing. Truly amazing. We asked the waitress if the Pastry Chef was in as we would love to meet him/her and tell them how much we had enjoyed their creations. The lunch rush was over. Of course, said the perky waitress, I will see if he will come out of the kitchen. He did. He should not have. He approached our table and stared at us with disdain. I hardly need to describe him as this look is prevalent among the male kitchen corp: shaved head, smallish thick rimmed black glasses (I would guess ‘Paul Smith’ brand) with a look of contempt and boredom. We attempted, as is expected in our business, to engage him and ask him interesting questions about his desserts, training etc. He would barely mutter his name. He stared at us blankly.  I thought perhaps he couldn't hear us.  It was like watching Helen Mirren in the QUEEN movie chastising Tony Blair in that imperious way that only the English Upper class can carry off.  This continued for such a long time that my business colleague finally said ‘It is clear that you are bored with us, please don’t let us keep you’. Do you have any idea how far she needs to be pushed to say something like this? I mean, the woman is in PR for goodness sakes. She can deal. But, dear Restaurant Owner, this boorish behavior from your Pastry Chef was over the top.

The restaurant business is a hospitality business. This means that restaurant employees should be, at the very least, hospitable. If your Pastry Chef is not someone who wants to come out of the kitchen, that is fine. This needs to be expressed to the wait staff so that they can field requests like ours (which is not so unusual these days) with a polite "no, I am sorry, he is too busy, not here, bashful" or whatever. Unfortunately, the success of a restaurant these days can hinge on not only the talent but also the personality of the chef. That is just the way it is. Do I agree that this is correct? No. We all hope that talent would win out but that is not enough these days to set you apart from the other restaurants. The guest wants to be finessed, acknowledged and well fed. Believe me when I say that I do my best to be a low maintenance guest.  I have managed both the front and back of a restaurant.  I know how tough it is just to keep the food consistent let alone micro manage the personality of the staff.  Just do yourself a favor and keep this guy in the kitchen.

Yours truly,

The Culinary Muse

Comments

[karletta]

Doug, I think you might be right. Thanks for reading and commenting.

[Doug]

Maybe all of his intelligence (social included) went into making good pastry :)

[Karletta]

It's okay, Dave. I really do understand. Conveying this information to the hostess/waitress would be the best thing for this pastry guy to do. Then they could just tell the guest that he appreciates their compliments but is really too shy to come out front.
Thanks for commenting.
K

[DaveA]

Some of us are really shy and introverted. One of the reasons we're in the kitchen, not the front.
We're sorry.

[Culinary Muse]

Tana, You are so right!

[Tana]

He sounds like a GREAT candidate to be bumped off (by the rest of the team) on "Top Chef."

: D

[Betsy]

Amen, sister! Several years ago, my family visited Olio E Limone Ristorante in Santa Barbara with our six-year-old "picky eater." It was Saturday, dinner time, very busy. When I asked the waiter if they could prepare plain pasta for "picky eater," he sent the owner/chef to our table. The chef was charming - he stooped to the child's level, asked her how she would like her pasta, and returned with pasta sauted in olive oil and sprinkled with a variety of grated cheeses. It was delicious, she loved it, and she loved being treated like an important customer! Is it any wonder we still recommend this restaurant to friends visiting Santa Barbara? Other restaurants: take a lesson!